This invention relates to a scroll compressor with a groove which assists in communicating a compression pocket to the discharge port.
Scroll compressors are becoming widely utilized for refrigerant compression applications. As known, interfitting orbiting and non-orbiting scroll wraps define a plurality of compression chambers. Typically, two compression chambers are concurrently sealed to move through intermediate pressures to a discharge port. The compression chambers eventually communicate with the discharge port. When the compression chambers communicate with the discharge port, the pressure in the compression chambers can be lower than pressure in the discharge. Under these conditions the refrigerant abruptly re-expands back into the compression chambers. This has sometimes resulted in undesirable noise.
At the beginning of the discharge process the port opening is small, while the flow rate out of the compression chamber is the highest. This results in large flow losses and resulting efficiency drop.
Grooves have been formed in the bases of scroll members for several purposes. One known groove is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 08/967040, filed Nov. 3, 1997, and entitled "Scroll Compressor with Pressure Equalization Groove." Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,762,483 discloses a groove in the base plate of the scroll members. These grooves, however, have not fully addressed the above problems.